Books

Can Non-Europeans Think?

Zed (2015)

with a foreword by Walter Mignolo

What happens to thinkers who operate outside the European philosophical pedigree? In this powerfully honed polemic, Hamid Dabashi argues that they are invariably marginalised, patronised and misrepresented.

Challenging, pugnacious and stylish, Can Non-Europeans Think? forges a new perspective in postcolonial theory by examining how intellectual debate continues to reinforce a colonial regime of knowledge, albeit in a new guise. Based on years of scholarship and activism, this insightful collection of philosophical explorations is certain to unsettle and delight in equal measure.

Interviews

Reviews

‘For decades, Hamid Dabashi has drawn from the histories of the non-West to argue for ways of thinking deemed illegitimate by the parochial but powerful guardians of intellectual life in the West. In Can Non-Europeans Think? he takes his subtle but vigorous polemic to another level.’
Pankaj Mishra

‘A much needed corrective to the complacent view that multicultural diversity reigns in US and European Universities. Hamid Dabashi’s new work is a tour de force.’
Drucilla Cornell, author of Law and Revolution in South Africa

‘Drawing from his unrivalled inside knowledge of various intellectual traditions, Dabashi has written, with acuity, passion and humour, a critical synthesis of Western thought from the vantage point of the ‘dark races’.’
Mamadou Diouf, director of the Institute for African Studies, Columbia University

‘With elegant irony, Can Non-Europeans Think? reorients our reading of the world. It is a passionate rejoinder to those who are unable to see beyond European framings and rootings.’
S. Sayyid, author of Recalling the Caliphate

‘Dabashi’s book is both a panoramic critique of, and a revolt against, dominant forms of knowledge. It is characteristically lucid and accessible. A worthwhile read.’
Wael Hallaq, Columbia University

‘Dabashi eloquently articulates the intellectual journey of a whole generation of postcolonial thinkers: its findings must be heard.’
Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab, author of Contemporary Arab Thought

‘Hamid Dabashi’s Can Non-Europeans Think? collects his important provocations on issues ranging from post-colonialism to democracy. These are pieces to wrestle with, to think about, to discuss and debate. Reading Dabashi is like going for an extended coffee with a very smart friend.’
Vijay Prashad, author of The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South

‘Can Non-Europeans Think? The simple answer is yes. The more complicated answer is also yes, but requires that the reader dismantles the very notion of ‘West’ and ‘European’. This is a fabulous read.’
Zillah Eisenstein, author of Sexual Decoys and The Audacity of Races and Genders

Visit Hamid On:

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[title] =>
[text] => "A leading cultural observer."
Washington Post
"Our most prominent intellectual."
Shirin Neshat
"Renowned Columbia University scholar on Iranian culture."
Boston Globe
"Spectacular, important, and incisive. Dabashi's work is crucial for our times."
Zillah EisensteinIthaca College, NY
"Hamid Dabashi lovingly writes about the history of Iran that teaches us how to understand a people overshadowed by the grand narratives of political (mis)representation."
Gayatri SpivakColumbia University
"You are with a humanist who deeply loves his country, and invites you to feel very much at home."
Susan Buck-MorssCornell University
"Superb authority... Dabashi provides a tour de force on Iranian art, politics and culture."
Shirin Neshat
"Great erudition and imagination... bringing out rich aspects of Iranian culture that are little known or not recognized."
Vanessa Martin, Royal HollowayUniversity of London
"Hamid Dabashi, is one of the most significant intellectual voices outside of Iran since the Islamic revolution."
Shirin Neshat
"A leading light in Iranian studies."
The Chronicle of Higher Education
"Cuts through the myths, past and present, that Americans have been told about Iran... presenting Iran's history through the lens of its literary cosmopolitanism."
Susan Buck-MorssCornell University
"Magisterial."
Houchang ChehabiBoston University
"An important man in New York."
Sir Ridley Scott
"Much-needed in our troubled times."
Gayatri SpivakColumbia University
"Exemplary of a new Leftist discourse that is undogmatic and non-sectarian... open and intimate."
Susan Buck-MorssCornell University
"Hamid Dabashi beautifully lays out the alluring dynamic between Iranian art and politics."
Shirin Neshat
"A rare cultural critic."
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
"Dabashi's passion and extraordinary vision, gives us the knowledge and commitment to stand against war and build the possibilities for peace and global justice."
Zillah EisensteinIthaca College, NY
"Hamid Dabashi's piercing revelations have been as instrumental in fashioning my own films as have Scorsese, Rossellini and Bresson."
Ramin Bahrani
"Superb and brilliant."
Bruce LawrenceDuke University
"Fresh, provocative and iconoclastic."
Ian Richard NettonUniversity of Leeds, UK
"Learned... sparkles with verve and a sometimes punishing wit. Hamid Dabashi is the perfect guide."
Edward W. Said
"There are few better places to begin than with Dabashi's subtle and vividly presented wealth on Iran."
Said Amir ArjomandSUNY, New York
"Objective and empathetic... unlike many others on contemporary Iran."
Ervand AbrahamianBaruch College, New York
"Enthusiastic... clear and accurate... impressive."
Oliver LeamanLiverpool John Moores University, UK
"Original, creative and insightful."
John L. EspositoGeorgetown University
"Extraordinary."
Daniel Brumberg Georgetown University
"Dabashi has an astonishing ability to range over some of the most complex issues of modern intellectual life."
Sudipta KavirajColumbia University
"If anyone can lay claim to Nima Yushij's statement that this world is his home, it is Hamid Dabashi. I want a very broad readership to know the quality of his writing and thinking, of his immense epistemic and historical scholarship."
Gayatri Chakravorty SpivakColumbia University
"Dabashi is learned, poetic, ranging from philosophy to film, every word written with a commitment to the possibility of a just world. I have worked with him in the past and will work with him again in the future."
Gayatri Chakravorty SpivakColumbia University
"Hamid Dabashi is one of the foremost exponent today of postcolonial critical theory, whose work deserves to be called post-colonial with all the multivalence of this description."
Sudipta KavirajColumbia University
"Hamid Dabashi's writings on Iranian culture and politics brilliantly re-imagine the rich heritage of a shared past and a conflicted present. His reflections on revolution and nationhood, poetry and cinema, philosophy and the sacred, are urgent, provocative, complex, and highly original."
Timothy MitchellColumbia University
"Equally fluent in philosophical reasoning, literary interpretation, visual hermeneutics and writing with a rare combination of penetration and lyricism, Dabashi's work continues values of both modern critical theory and the highly sophisticated and subtle intellectual traditions of Iranian... reflection -- for both of which he is an wonderfully sympathetic reader."
Sudipta KavirajColumbia University
"Hamid Dabashi belongs to a marvelous tradition of poetic thinkers, whose deep insights are crafted in magnificent poetic prose."
Gilbert AchcarUniversity of London
"Dabashi provides his readers with the wine of literary pleasure along with rich food for thought."
Gilbert AchcarUniversity of London
"In Dabashi's work, post-coloniality does not mean a denial or denunciation of the modern European tradition of philosophy and social theory, but their effortless absorption into a larger, more complex reflection."
Sudipta KavirajColumbia University
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